Tradie Forms: complete QLD Form 5 on the official testing or commissioning report layout while the gauges, dates, permit number, and responsible person details are still in front of you.
Testing paperwork turns messy fast. The test is done, the equipment is packed, the next job is calling, and the Form 5 is still sitting on a clipboard.
That is when dates get guessed, permit numbers get copied from the wrong text thread, and the responsible person and competent person blocks blur together. A simple report becomes a phone call from the office or the council because one field does not line up.
Start QLD Form 5, or browse QLD plumbing forms.
What is QLD Form 5 for?
Business Queensland lists Form 5 as "a testing or commissioning report" under the plumbing and drainage forms. The official PDF says it is used for section 77(2) of the Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2019, and that completion of all applicable sections is mandatory.
In job-site terms, it records that plumbing or drainage work, or the relevant part of it, has been tested or commissioned. It is not the permit application - it sits later in the flow, once the testing has happened and the report needs to move from the competent person to the people who rely on it.
Why does completion timing matter?
The regulation sets a reporting chain. The competent person must give the report to the responsible person within 5 business days after the testing or commissioning is finished. Where the responsible person is given the report, they must then give it to the local government within the timeframe the regulation sets.
That makes Form 5 a completion record rather than a document for the drawer. If you are the competent person, the responsible person needs a usable report quickly. If you are the responsible person, you need to know the report is complete before it goes to local government.
The field habit is simple: do the test, finish the form, review it, and hand it on before the job slips into yesterday's pile.
Who is involved
Three party blocks, easy to mix up at speed.
The responsible person is the licensed person who performs or supervises the work. Their details include name, occupational licence number, contractor licence number where applicable, phone, email, and postal address.
The contractor block applies when the responsible person is not the contractor for the work. Where that is the case, the contractor's company or individual details need to be included.
The competent person is the person who carried out the testing or commissioning - described on the official form as someone who holds a licence authorising it, or someone the local government considers competent to carry it out.
On a small job one person may fill more than one role. On a larger job the roles sit with different workers or businesses. Do not assume a saved contact block is right for every section: check the role first, then fill the details.
Description of land
The official form says the description must identify all land the application covers - usually street address, lot and plan, shop or tenancy number, storey or level, and local government area where applicable.
Do not rely on the customer's nickname for the job. "Bakery fit-off" makes sense to your crew and nothing to local government or a future record. Unit sites, shopping centres, industrial estates, rural blocks, and new subdivisions all need the extra identifiers.
Permit and action notice details
Add the permit number and date issued where known. Where the report relates to work under a permit, this is the link between the testing result and the approved work pathway. Compare the number against the job file, council portal, or approval paperwork before you finish - a single wrong digit sends the office hunting later.
Form 5 also includes an action notice section where applicable. Where the report connects to an action notice, include the reference number and date issued. Leave it blank because it does not apply, not because nobody checked.
Details of testing
This is the core of the form. The official PDF provides date fields for testing or commissioning against installation types including water plumbing installation, hot water service, hot water below 50 degrees Celsius, sanitary plumbing, sanitary drainage, floor waste gully branches, reticulated water static pressure testing below 500 kPa other than fire service, and other testing details.
Enter the date against the installation type actually tested or commissioned. Do not copy one date across every line when only one part of the work was tested that day. Where "other" applies, describe it clearly.
The form notes that testing and commissioning is done in accordance with the relevant part of AS/NZS 3500. A online form helps you get the details onto the official layout; it does not decide whether the test was adequate. The competent person still checks the report.
Common mistakes
One date copied everywhere. Different installation types get tested at different stages. Use the test record, not memory.
Responsible person and competent person swapped. One is tied to performing or supervising the work, the other to carrying out the testing. Read the role descriptions before filling the contact blocks.
Contractor details skipped. Where the responsible person is not the contractor, those details must be provided.
The site is not identified well enough. If someone later needs to match the report to a permit, inspection, or site record, a vague address slows everyone down.
No review before handover. Online forms reduce missed fields; they do not replace the licensed person's check. Confirm names, licence numbers, test dates, declaration date, and any sections marked not applicable.
A clean on-site workflow
Step 1
Fix the land and permit
From a verified source
Lot and plan, tenancy, LGA, matched to the permit or action notice.
Step 2
Record the dates
While the test record is open
Each relevant testing or commissioning date, not one date for the lot.
Step 3
Confirm the roles
Responsible person, contractor, competent person
Saved licence details still get checked before they go on.
Step 4
Read the declaration
Before signing
Then review the finished report and keep a clean copy.
The declaration is the part most often signed without being read.
- Hand it to the responsible person, or ready it for the local government pathway
That rhythm keeps the report close to the work, and lets the office attach it to the job record without chasing photos, notes, or old messages.
What to keep with the finished report
- Test sheets, readings, or commissioning notes
- Permit number and approval documents
- Action notice details where applicable
- Photos of test points, plant, fixtures, or site conditions where useful
- Licence and contractor details used on the form
- Completion email, upload receipt, or lodgement record
This matters when a council officer asks for the report, when the responsible person needs to show what was handed over, or when the next plumber wants to know what was already tested.
Writing results someone else can use
A testing and commissioning report is read by people who were not there, so the readings need enough context to mean something.
That means recording what was tested, the result, and the conditions or basis where they matter, rather than a bare number. A reading without its basis is difficult to compare against a later test, which is the main thing anyone will want to do with it.
Keeping the report with the system it describes
The report belongs with the rest of the system's documentation rather than in a reports folder.
Someone assessing the installation later wants the report, the specification it was tested against, and any defect or rectification record that followed, together. Filed separately, each one answers less than it should.
Next steps
Start QLD Form 5 while the testing details are fresh, or browse QLD plumber forms. Working interstate? The plumbing forms hub lists the lot.
Related forms include QLD Form 1 permit work application before permit work starts, QLD Form 9 backflow for testable backflow device reporting, and QLD Form 14 at completion. The QLD plumbing forms list shows the whole sequence, and the Form 1, Form 5 and Form 9 handover guide covers how they pass between people.
For the two reporting deadlines and the copy trail after testing, use the Form 5 record-keeping and handover guide.
Tradie Forms maps your entries onto the Queensland Form 5 layout. It does not decide whether the work passes testing or commissioning - the competent person and licensed tradie remain responsible for the work and the finished report.
Official references
For current requirements, check the Business Queensland plumbing forms page, the Queensland Form 5 PDF, and the Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2019.
